Many communication networks include intermediate networking devices, such as access concentrators described in RFC 4388, to forward network traffic to and from host devices based on their assigned Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The ability of these intermediate networking devices to identify and accurately associate IP addresses to host devices allows for effective routing of network traffic and also provides security in the communication networks.
As the networking community transitions from Internet Protocol, version 4 (IPv4) to version 6 (IPv6), many host devices are starting to include operating systems that enable the use of both Internet Protocol versions. For instance, when these host devices are assigned an IP address for one of the two versions, i.e., either IPv4 or IPv6, they are in a single-stack configuration. When the host devices are assigned IP addresses for both versions, i.e., both IPv4 and IPv6, they are in a dual-stack configuration. The introduction of host devices capable of dual-stack configuration to the communication networks, however, renders it difficult for the intermediate networking devices to detect whether the host devices are in a dual-stack configuration and thus to properly associate the corresponding IP addresses to the host devices.